A nearly decade-old act of kindness is going viral after it was uncovered by a student.

Jacques Ruffin from Orlando, Florida discovered a letter from 2009 from the owner of a music shop, forgiving the debt on a trumpet his mother was buying so he could continue to play.

The letter, sent by the president of Allegro Music Centre, said: “I have decided to forgive the rent on Jacques’ trumpet… I have been through bad times like you. But remember tough times never last, tough people do.”

Ruffin said: “I had no knowledge of this letter until I found it in the hallway closet three days ago. The letter touched my heart.

“Reading the letter brought me to near tears and I wondered how life would’ve turned out if it wasn’t for the kindness of James W. Jones. His act of kindness enabled me to participate in band throughout middle and high school.”

The letter now has over 183,000 upvotes on Reddit, with the kind act touching many.

Allegro Music Centre said: “We have been overwhelmed with the positive response, it has been so encouraging and uplifting.

“One thing that we have always wanted to do is have a rental scholarship fund, where we could help more students access music education by either providing a free months rent or a full school year rental based on need.